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Senior Day Speaker Larry Dean Thompson, general counsel of Pepsico, addresses the graduates.
In the stately rotunda that bears Jackie Robinson's name, the New York Mets rolled out the red carpet in celebration of the Law School's new Branch Rickey Collegiate Professorship.
Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon, LSA '58, one of the benefactors of the Rickey Professorship, welcomed about 240 people to a reception April 30 at the Mets' new Citi Field, where Rickey, JD '11, was remembered as epitomizing Michigan Law's values.
Wilpon met Rickey when the latter was the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager, and Wilpon was a ball-playing teen-ager who pitched batting practice to the team. Wilpon's wife, Judy, LSA '58, later worked as an assistant to Rickey.
"Branch Rickey was a giant of a man, not in stature, but with a great intellect, creativity, and total honesty," Wilpon said. "Judy and I learned so much about life from Branch Rickey."
The guests—mostly Michigan Law alumni, family and friends from the Tri-State area—mingled under large black-and-white photos on the rotunda's walls depicting scenes from Robinson's career. One image shows him with Rickey, the executive who brought Robinson onto the team 62 years ago to break the sport's color barrier and permanently change the face of American society.
The star player and the visionary manager were similarly linked in other speakers' remarks. Bud Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball, talked about the historical significance of Rickey and Robinson. Major League Baseball is also a principal benefactor of the Rickey Professorship.
"He was baseball's greatest front-office executive, and more importantly, I believe he was the greatest executive in American sports history," said Selig. "It was Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson together who stood up to the bigots of that day and declared that racial hatred and segregation were things of the past and would no longer be tolerated in our national pastime."
Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson's widow, shared memories of Rickey and of the early days of her husband's signing with the Dodgers, when the two men "met, strategized, and most importantly, developed a profound and lasting relationship," she said.
"They seemed to understand, as great soldiers do, that there was a crucial interdependence between them," said Robinson. "Thanks to Fred Wilpon, we proudly salute Mr. Rickey and the University of Michigan through the establishment of the Branch Rickey Professorship."
Rickey's grandson Branch B. Rickey, also a baseball executive, commended Dean Evan Caminker for accepting the challenge of being the first Branch Rickey Collegiate Professor.
"On behalf of the Rickey family, I can tell you that we are very, very proud that he is challenged with this, and accepting that responsibility," said Rickey.
Rickey said his grandfather refused to accept any awards for signing Robinson.
"He did not believe he was due any recognition," said Rickey. "It was a longstanding wrong that needed to be righted. He would be proud, though, of this chair. I think it's a reminder of what can be achieved by the coming together of persons who are committed to overcoming racism, bigotry, and wrongness, however prevalent."
Dean Caminker, who was named to the professorship last year when the chair was created, spoke of how his life and career have been touched by the values espoused by Rickey. A constitutional scholar, the Dean has a particular interest in civil rights.
"Branch Rickey was an exemplary champion of civil rights, both by word and by deed," the Dean said. "He served our institution, Major League Baseball, and this country exceedingly well."
The Dean acknowledged one of his boyhood heroes, Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, a lifelong friend of Wilpon, who attended the reception with his wife, Jane.
Professor Rich Friedman was master of ceremonies for the program. Afterwards, guests toured the stadium, courtesy of the Mets, as the Michigan Law logo blazed from the Jumbotron.
View footage from the event.
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK: Trays of brightly colored powders are set up on the Quad April 17 in preparation for a celebration of Holi, a springtime Hindu festival of colors brought to the Law School by the South Asian Law Students Association.
CAUGHT IN A CLOUDY CROSSFIRE: Michigan Law students use bright color to engage in mutual combat on the Quad.
GREEN AND PURPLE MAKE ... A MESS: Powder rains from on high as Michigan Law students celebrate spring, Hindu style.
The champions of the 2009 Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition could hardly have afforded not to win.
Because if 2Ls Frances Lewis and Usman Ahmed had come up short, Lewis says they would have felt compelled to try again in 2010.
"Now we don't feel the need to come back and compete again next year," said an only partly joking Lewis, who also captured Best Oralist honors. The Best Brief award went to the other team that reached the finals -- Isabel Daniels and Dan Hipskind, both third-year students.
The Campbell Moot Court Competition, established in 1926, honors the 1878 Michigan Law graduate who went on to found the prominent Detroit law firm that later became known as Dickinson Wright. Competition is open to all second- and third-year students, as well as to LL.M., visiting, and dual-degree students. Final arguments took place last month before a panel of federal judges comprised of Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit and judges Jeffrey S. Sutton and Raymond M. Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit.
Lewis said the intensity of the competition made her feel almost as if she were carrying an extra class between October and April. But she quickly added that the pressure was a positive thing – especially since she and Ahmed were already friends when they came into the contest.
"In a competition like this, the most important element is who you're working with," Lewis said. "It helped that Usman and I were friends from last year, because it meant we could argue with each other and not take it personally. We were also able to joke around and have fun with it."
And winning the competition, which involved the race-conscious admissions policy at a private academy, didn't hurt either, she said.
"We're just on cloud nine," Lewis said. "We're only 2Ls, so it's a huge honor to get to make arguments in front of federal circuit court judges at such a young age. And the support we were shown throughout this process from our professors, friends and family – we really owe our success to them."
For video of the judges' post-competition commentary, click here.
Law.com reports Aaron McCree Lewis, '05, named to Justice Department post.
1995 Michigan Law grad Jasbina Ahluwalia, fascinated by matchmaking, falls for the love biz.
In Sunday New York Times, Nicholas Kristof argues, with help from 1988 grad Elisa Massimino, that White House needs to confront the legacy of Bush Administration interrogation techniques. Massimino makes similar point for herself on NPR's Diane Rehm show.
You could look it up: Chicago Tribune profiles "Dictionary Man" Theodore Utchen, '58.


text:
Quick View LEGO Galaxy Squad Space Swarmer by LEGO® In stock online $14.95 The evil alien buggoid is buzzing around in his Space Swarmer. Don't let him capture the Galaxy Squad robot sidekick with the ship's grabber mouth! Help him to blast away from the buggoid's sonic gun with his jet pack! Get to safety, then aim and fire the blasters to stop that swarming space… See Details $14.95 was $14.95
Tips for store searching: Check that you entered your information correctly. If your postal code might be further than 25kms from a store, try entering a city name instead. If there are no matches in your city, try the next closest major city.

subset: commoncrawl


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The first phase of the Santa Clara, Calif., Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) BART Extension to Silicon Valley has been given an overall project rating of "medium" in the Federal Transit Administration New Starts Annual Report for Federal Fiscal Year 2011, which was released Feb. 3.
--> ...MTA New York City Transit officials said that real-time train arrival message screens are now operational and being tested in the Buhre Avenue and Middletown Road stations on the 6 line.
--> ...After a few days on the job, new Hampton Roads, Va., Transit leader Philip Shucet said he's working to correct poor project management practices on Norfolk's beleaguered light-rail construction and eliminate a culture of fear that has gripped the agency, The Virginian-Pilot reports. Both have contributed to the spiraling cost overruns and schedule delays on the light-rail project that has cast a pall over the transit agency.
--> ...Kansas has received a grant to develop a business plan for an expanded Amtrak passenger rail service south from Newton to Oklahoma City - but no money to actually develop the line, The Hutchinson News reports. The $250,000 award from the $8 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program also must be locally matched, which is not a foregone conclusion with the fiscal crisis facing the state, officials acknowledged.
--> ...Norfolk Southern hasn't laid down any of the track that will connect its main line to the proposed $112-million intermodal terminal in Rossville, Tenn., but the company is laying down a foundation to keep the project on target to open in two years, The Daily News reports.
--> ...An early state plan to improve two busy railroad crossings has sparked questions about who should pay for the project, even though no one knows the exact price tag yet, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports. The improvements are planned for crossings at Mockingbird Lane near Illinois Route 162 and Cargill Road at Country Place Lane. Both are in eastern Granite City about a quarter-mile apart.
--> ...
Throughout the Presidents
Day Holiday weekend, the Rosslyn Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines
in the Washington, D.C., area will be closed and the Arlington Cemetery
Metrorail station on the Blue Line (station closes at 7 p.m. nightly during the
winter months) will also be closed from 10 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12 to closing,
Monday, Feb. 15, while Metro undertakes a major track rehabilitation project.
Normal service will resume on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 5 a.m.
Hugh Fuller has joined HNTB Corporation as the Northwest railway practice manager and brings more than 30 years of experience in the transportation and railway engineering fields. He has managed or designed more than a dozen light rail, streetcar and commuter rail projects, making him one of the leading railway engineers in the United States.
--> ...
Michael T. McNamara, P.E., was recently named a senior associate at Gannett Fleming, an international planning, design, and construction management firm. Based in the firm's Valley Forge, Pa., office, McNamara serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems, a division of Gannett Fleming specializing in transit and railroad track, signal, communication and electric traction design. He resides in Voorhees, N.J.
On Feb.1, President Obama proposed $1.82 billion in funding for 27 major transit construction projects that will create jobs and increase transportation options throughout the United States.
--> ...


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"A minstrel show is loose in terms of time," Kander said. "People can jump from event to event as they sing songs, tell stories and jokes, do dances. It was perfect for this kind of complicated plot."
The creative team was also drawn to the inherent controversy of the form.
"Of course, there is the really awful connection of blackface minstrel shows with the shameful treatment of African Americans in this country. But you can't ignore the fact that for a long time (they were) the most popular form of entertainment in the U.S."
Kander even recalls participating in minstrel shows.
"I can remember when I was a kid at summer camp and later as a camp counselor, at the end of the summer we'd do a minstrel show. Nobody ever thought about the significance of blackface. It was just something everybody did."
The "Scottsboro Boys" story is framed by a simple scene.
At the beginning of the musical an older black woman waits for a bus. She lifts one corner of a cake box she is holding and begins a reverie. The scene around her fades and minstrels arrive to tell the Scottsboro story.
At the end of the show the woman is revealed to be Rosa Parks. As she boards the bus we realize that she's about to commit an act of defiance that will be pivotal event in the Civil Rights movement. The scene makes a bold statement: the plight of Scottsboro Boys planted the seeds for change.
Surprisingly, the framing scenes came much later in the process, Kander said.
"Susan (Stroman) particularly felt that we needed an observer. At one point we played with the idea of a little girl, but then someone suggested connecting Rosa Parks to these guys. She and her husband were aware of them and were involved in that cause. It all made perfect sense."
After Ebb's death, the project languished for four years. "I don't think it ever died, at least not in my head," Kander said. "We had several other (musicals) that were also unfinished." The project was re-started in 2008; Kander wrote Ebb's unfinished lyrics.
"It was just one of those things that needed time to mature," Kander said. "I'm kind of glad now that it did."
Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
About this font family
Here's a new take on an old dry-transfer standard from the 70s named Barrio.
This unicase version features several handy ligatures not found in the original typeface, which will substitute in OpenType-savvy applications when the lowercase combos are typed.
This font contains the complete Latin language character set (Unicode 1252) plus support for Central European (Unicode 1250) languages as well.
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text:
Stefan Edfeldt is of course a dedicated fan, playing the same models of guitar as Hendrix, through electrical equipment of the right vintage. -We exclusively play Hendrix-covers. No compromises!! No shortcuts!!
This is a psychedelic throwback into Jimi's lush tonal world!
Ducks Can Groove can offer you a full nights entertainment in true Jimi-spirit. Complete with video projections of genuine Hendrix performances, plus interesting tales from Jimi's Swedish tours. All intermingled with our renditions of Jimi's compositions.
You can engage us if you're looking for a nice show for your company's
next party, or if you need an evening with a 60's flowerpower/Hippie theme
in your pub or restaurant.
Ducks Can Groove
Stefan Edfeldt: gitarr och sång
Erik Edlund: trummor, kör
Fredrik Eriksson: bas
EXP Hendrix tribute |
"Good luck with the amazing music,God Bless" / Leon Hendrix
"Edfeldt´s guitar playing reflects the strongest Hendrix influence of all those reviewed here"
- Experience Hendrix (family) magazine
"Individually they are highly skilled musicians and, collectively, they are a force to be reckoned with."
– Jimpress (Hendrix collector magazine)
Buy our CD's, click here for info!
New CD out now!
:: Equipment ::
My favourite guitars: Fender Stratocaster '63, black. Fender Stratocaster '77, white. Gibson Flying V '98, Cherry red.
I usually play them through a Marshall rig, consisting of one '69 50 Watt top, and two old 4/12 cabinets.
Also use a standalone Fender reverb unit.
:: Pictures etc. ::
Stefan & Noel Redding |
In 1999 I was selected as one of the ten finalists from all over the world, for a guitar competition arranged by the Hendrix family (Experience Hendrix) "THE 1999 VOODOO CHILE ELECTRIC GUITAR AWARD". Was kind of funny when my cellphone rang late one night (after a visit to the local pub and Kebab bar in Östersund), and I found myself talking with Experience Hendrix, all the way from Seattle,,,, and after about 27 seconds later, the battery died... Oh well, we sorted it out the next day. I didn't go, though. Stupid! Had been selected on a two week notice, sigh! No money, and no days of leave from my job. But it was a great feeling to have been approved, ofcourse!
Stefan och Leon Hendrix |
In November of '02, I travelled to Los Angeles . I was invited to participate in Jimi's brother Leon Hendrix's "Jimi's 60th Birthday Bash" at BB King's Blues Club in Hollywood . We celebrated Jimi together with people who knew him, and listened to Noel Redding, Buddy Miles and Arthur Lee and Love. Later that night I got to jam with Leon Hendrix in his hotel room. In short, - a really great trip.......
:: Turnéplan ::
:: Info ::
Live on stage, Jimi seldom played his tunes in a set way. His arrangements varied from night to night during the tours. The way they were recorded and heard on vinyl, was only used as framework for building live improvisations around. We try and emulate this approach when playing Jimi's tunes.
We jam and have a good time, around the framework Jimi provided. Our goal is to try and recreate a little bit of the feeling that would meet an audience when seeing and hearing Jimi Hendrix live on stage. This is ofcourse an impossible task, but we're crazy enough to try and pull it off. We approach Jimi's music truly seriously. Seriously and joyfully!
Hendrix-tunes we play: Hey Joe, Purple Haze, Fire, Come On, In From The Storm, The Wind Cries Mary, Dolly Dagger - Villanova Junction, Red House, Fire, Are You Experienced?, Voodoo Chile sr, Foxy Lady, Freedom, Hear My Train a´comin, Message Of Love, Hey Baby, Bleeding Heart, Gypsy Eyes, Machine gun, All Along The Watchtower, May This Be Love, Like A Rolling Stone, SGT Pepper, Stone Free, Manic Depression, Voodoo Chile, Catfish Blues, Little Wing, Up From The Skies, Who Knows, Izabella, Little Miss Lover, Ezy Ryder, Can You See Me?, Love Or Confusion, and more..
We also perform unplugged, that is: six and twelve string guitar, double bass and a lighter drumkit.
This setting is suitable for various venues where less volume is preferable.
Still it's all about Hendrix, with main focus on Jimi's beautiful ballads.
Plus on his bluesmaterial in a somewhat "jazzier" style. We call this setting "Ducks Lite"!


text:
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- Anywhere In The UK
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In 2002, at the age of twelve, Jennifer Pike became the youngest ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, following her performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Since then, Jennifer has performed in many major venues and arts festivals around the UK, Europe, the Middle East and the USA.
In July 2005 she made her BBC Proms début in the Royal Albert Hall, and in November 2005 she made her evening recital début in the Wigmore Hall, both to great critical acclaim. She has appeared as soloist with many of the UK's major orchestras playing concerti by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Bruch, Mendelssohn and Prokofiev.
'A truly engaging musicality' (The Times on Jennifer Pike).
See more info at jenniferpike.com
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SANTA ANA, CA – Aug. 3, 2012 - Freedom Communications' new owner and Chief Executive Officer Aaron Kushner will serve as Publisher of The Orange County Register, effective immediately.
Kushner will oversee the day-to-day operations of Orange County Register Communications, which includes The Orange County Register, 23 community newspapers, Spanish-language newspaper Excelsior, OrangeCounty.com and Coast Magazine.
"The Register has several foundational strengths, particularly its quality journalism and a loyal customer base who considers our information products to be an essential part of their personal and professional lives," Kushner said. "I am excited to join a talented team at the Register to build on that foundation, and develop plans that create additional value for subscribers and advertisers."
Kushner replaces Register editor Ken Brusic, who served as publisher on an interim basis since April. "Ken will continue to be an invaluable leader of our institution, especially as we work to strengthen the value we deliver to our subscribers and community," stated Kushner.
2100 Trust completed its acquisition of the Register and other newspapers operated by Freedom Communications on July 25. The following day, Kushner addressed Register employees saying he will introduce a "subscriber-first" strategy and channel resources toward "making content richer and more valuable to subscribers." He added he has a vision on how the Register will "win" and sustain profitability, but would not elaborate on specific plans until he could evaluate current operations and initiate discussions with management.
About Orange County Register Communications
Orange County Register Communications, Inc. of Santa Ana, Calif. is part of Freedom Communications, Inc. and is publisher of The Orange County Register, a three-time, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper and the area's most trusted source of news and information since 1905. The company also publishes several smartphone apps, OCRegister.com, OCVarsity.com, OCExcelsior.com, OrangeCounty.com, social media pages, 23 community newspapers, and Spanish-language Excélsior. Magazines include Coast and several publications supporting the performing arts. Orange County Register Communications also offers a full spectrum of custom printing services, insert and direct mail advertising vehicles. For more information, visit www.ocregister.com/aboutus.


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US Bank has worked with the Sport Club program to establish a scholarship that will help recognize both the hard work and outstanding efforts put forth by the members and athletes of the Collegiate Sport Club program. Through this scholarship opportunity we are able to recognize significant accomplishments by these members in competition, leadership, and community involvement. Each scholarship winner will receive $200 provided by our sponsor US Bank to help them meet their educational needs.
US Bank Scholarship Nomination Form
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................Matthew Trinkle Scholarship
The Matthew Trinkle Climbing Scholarship is awarded to an individual who displays the qualities that made Matt a valued, special member of Central's climbing community. Like Matt, an individual deserving of this award must:
• Be actively involved with the CWU climbing community. This includes a dedication to not only his own climbing success, but the success of his friends' and the climbing community's
• Be active in the CWU Climbing Club. This includes attending club practices, advertising the club around campus, traveling to NC3 Competitions, and displaying good sportsmanship at home and away.
• Be engaged in the growth of the club and the climbing community. The individual must encourage the growth of the sport through educating new climbers and a general enthusiasm for climbing.
To be considered for this award, the individual must also be a freshman or sophomore, be in good academic standing.
Applications are accepted annually between 10/1 and 3/1. For more information about the scholarship or the application process please visit: http://www.cwu.edu/scholarships/matthew-trinkle-memorial-scholarship.
Saturday, November 5th, 2014
CWU Dance Team Featured In National Staples TV CommercialEight members of the Central Washington University Dance Team are featured in a Staples back-to-scho
CWU Players Prepare For International Rugby CompetitionsThe roster has been set for the United States under-20 national team that will compete for the Inte


text:
Welcome! You are browsing as a guest
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© 2010 Denise Siegel
© Caro Sheridan / Splityarn
© Caro Sheridan / Splityarn
© 2010 Denise Siegel
Saucy Convertible
Get ready to take the top down with Saucy Convertible, a truly amazing little sweater that is every bit as fun as your favorite summer ride. The top portion of the sweater creates a versatile silhouette designed to be worn a multitude of ways. You can wear it as-is, or embellish with vintage jewelry for a v-neck, off-the-shoulder, square neck or jaunty asymmetrical look. Short row shaping and darts are used to make this slim-fitting top a flattering addition to any wardrobe.


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Ticket #7629 (closed enhancement: worksforme)
Extend coverage of stored references to core methods metaticket
Reported by: | rwaldron | Owned by: | |
Priority: | low | Milestone: | |
Component: | misc | Version: | 1.4.4 |
Keywords: | Cc: | ||
Blocking: | Blocked by: |
Description (last modified by rwaldron) (diff)
A comment on #6809 pointed to a patch that does some optimizations by extended the idea already in practice of storing references to core methods, strings and other "constant" type information that is frequently reused.
A VERY good resource for this practice was published by the winner of the JS1k contest, here:
Additionally, this a link to the patch:
Change History
comment:1 Changed 4 years ago by rwaldron
- Priority changed from undecided to low
- Component changed from unfiled to misc
- Description modified (diff)
comment:3 Changed 4 years ago by john
- Status changed from open to closed
- Resolution set to worksforme
"storing references to core methods, strings and other "constant" type information that is frequently reused."
Don't we do this already? We store reference to many DOM methods, we cache all RegExp and functions at the top of our code. I think we're already OK here.
I've moved the commit above into #6809.


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14/04/2015Innovation Fund 2015/16Applications are now welcome for new and innovative schemes which will reduce the amount of household waste that Devon councils manage. Read on
02/04/2015Composter CompetitionWin a Home Composter to help your garden grow. Read on
14/04/20152015 ElectionsOn Thursday 7 May 2015 there will be a UK Parliamentary General Election combined with West Devon Borough Council Wards and all of the Town and Parish Councils within the borough. Read on
24/06/2014Our PlanHow is West Devon likely to change in the future, how can communities help shape and take ownership of what happens in their localities? Read on


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Aug 13, 2013 8:10 AM
****TEXAS CHAOS 04(league city, tx)Tryouts for 10u***
Like (0)
Texas Chaos 04 was the USFA state champs as well as the USFA National WORLD SERIES champs in 2013 season.
when:Aug 17 and 18th 2013 5:00pm-8:00pm
where: 100 alderwood league city, TX
location: countryside small field
Contact Team Manager: 409-599-0324 Terry S.
Texas Chaos 04 tryouts for 10u season fall and spring:
Texas Chaos 04 is committed to developing the best team possible to compete locally and nationally. We are committed to developing "A" ball players that are prepared to compete at the highest ELITE level. We are looking for dedicated players and parents wanting to develop young women of character thru competitive sports. Our objective is to provide our players with a program that is dedicated to the development of softball skills and the values of team work, self confidence, commitment, focus, discipline, sportsmanship and work ethic that creates a winning attitude. It is our hopes that these characteristics and fundamentals will provide each of our girls with the opportunity to reach her full potential both on and off the field and throughout her future. Important if you are a pitcher or catcher please let us know. Looking to add to a solid core of competitive girls.
Online Golf Tee Times with Last Minute Tee Time Deals & Discounts
Cool Running is the complete online resource for runners.
Find your favorite campground from the best campgrounds listing!


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"It gets late early around here." - Yogi Berra
December 31, 2007
BLOG: Best of Baseball Crank 2007
I've been writing on the web since 2000 and blogging since 2002, and in all those years, 2007 has been perhaps the toughest in terms of being satisfied with my ability to produce consistently new and interesting content for my readers - so with things a little quiet here over the past week or so and probably staying that way for the next few days, I hope you will indulge me here if I run a retrospective look back at my best work from this year, or at least the posts I enjoyed the most. For newer readers, it's a chance to catch up on things you may have missed. Posts are grouped in three subjects and listed chronologically within those. As you can see, the 2008 presidential election is somewhat overrepresented here, while the baseball postseason is underrepresented. Sports A look at Hall of Fame and Hall of Fame candidate middle infielders. Critiquing Baseball-Reference.com's translated statistics. Review of Michael Lewis' The Blind Side. Taking a victory lap on the BALCO leak. EWSL review of 2006 and EWSL age analysis. EWSL previews for the AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL West and NL Central. A brief history of the rise of lefthanded pitching. Is Billy Wagner the best lefthanded reliever ever? That high-flying Mets defense, before it collapsed down the stretch, and after. Baseball's most impressive records. Probably my favorite post of the year, and definitely my favorite baseball post. Tom Glavine's 300th win, and the career path of the average 300 game winner. My BBC Radio debate with David Pinto on Barry Bonds. Michael Vick and the NFL players union. Reviewing The Bronx is Burning (the book). The role of pitching in the history of the Detroit Tigers. Willie Randolph: the motivational poster. The home run imbalance between the leagues. The greatest late-season runs of all time, including the 2007 Rockies. The horrible almost Yorvit Torrealba signing. The Hall of Fame ballot: Yes on Gossage, No on Dawson. Isiah Thomas: the most hated figure in NY sports history? Tim Raines and the Tablesetters. Politics, War and Law The wrong way for Rudy to argue about abortion. Obama's plan to withdraw from Iraq beginning May 1, 2007. Mike Huckabee: the right man for the wrong job. The case against a national minimum wage. John Edwards' amnesia on Iran and Israel. Barack Obama, pandering to cannibals. Bill Richardson, sucker for tyrants. A culture war roundup from the courts. On Imus and the Rutgers press conference. A look at campaign finance laws through the lens of Torii Hunter's bat. Those tax hiking Democratic governors. More here and here. Eliot Spitzer's pro-abortion zealotry, and the Seven Stages of Liberal Legal Activism. Tax amnesty for illegal immigrants. John Edwards' fantasy foreign policy. The elements of a third party presidential run. Harry Reid, the Insult Comic Senate Majority Leader. The Libby pardon. I'm not even sure if I still agree with this post, but I did put a lot of thought into it. A satire on the (then-)sinking McCain campaign. Trying to nail the Hillary jello to the wall on Iraq. Two cheers for the hypocrites. John Edwards doesn't want to know. A taxonomy of the presidential candidates. Why Fred Thompson needed to get specific. (He since has). The Spitzer/Hillary posts on drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, here, here, here, here, and here. The Trouble With Mitt Romney, Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Michael Gerson. Yes, Hillary will win the nomination. Pop Culture and Other Fun Stuff The Star Wars prequels as they should have been. Predictions and a wrapup on the end of The Sopranos. Reviewing the fifth Harry Potter film and the final Harry Potter book. Posted by Baseball Crank at 12:14 AM
Baseball 2007 |
Blog 2006-13 |
Politics 2008
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December 28, 2007
BLOG: Under Attack
I seem to have suffered some sort of server attack that has wiped out everything (posts & comments) posted to the site since Christmas Eve. My apologies. If anybody happens to have a blog-reader or other cache-type service that still contains the text of any of my posts for 12/25-27, it would be great if you could copy & paste and email them to me at: baseball_crank at yahoo *dot* com Thanks. UPDATE: Got 'em, thanks to reader Dave S.
December 27, 2007
WAR/POLITICS: Not Ready for Prime Time
Mike Huckabee on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. BASEBALL: The Tablesetters
FYI, I left Amos Otis out of the article because I wasn't sure where to classify him. Otis was sort of neither fish nor fowl, not exactly a slugger or a tablesetter but, as Bill James has noted, one of the most well-rounded players in the game's history, doing well at almost everything. Anyway, Otis' translated stats for the 10 years of his prime (age 23-32, 1970-79) rates him at .285/.477/.351* in 623 plate appearances for a "Rate" of 104.1, with 30 SB and 7 CS and 11 DP per year. * - The THT folks switched all my Avg/Slg/OBP numbers to Avg/OBP/Slg, which still looks wierd to me but has become the convention in the last 10 years or so, I guess. Posted by Baseball Crank at 9:43 AM
Baseball 2007 |
Baseball 2008 |
Baseball Studies
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December 26, 2007
BLOG: It's Expensive To Not Look Cheap
An overdue idea, but awfully pricey. POLITICS: Glenns Greenwald Miss The Obvious
Glenns Greenwald get bent out of shape - as only Greenwald can - about the fact that Mike Huckabee got lots of bad press for using - allegedly, intentionally - a subliminal cross in an overtly Christian campaign commercial, while John McCain got nothing but good press for his ad, an emotionally powerful ad in which McCain relates a Christmas story from his captivity in Vietnam: Greenwald: [T]he reverent reaction to McCain's ad could not have been more different than the one provoked by Huckabee's. Chris Wallace said: "That McCain ad is so powerful. You find yourself tearing up when you see that, obviously." Obviously. A clearly moved Fred Barnes concurred with the only word that was needed: "Indeed." Mort Kondracke gushed: "I think it was a great ad, and it had a religious overtone to it. . . . it should remind religious [voters] that there is another candidate in the options besides Huckabee." +++ Why does the Republican establishment think that Mike Huckabee should be barred from the use of Christian symbols while John McCain -- and, for that matter, George Bush -- are to be cheered when they do? Especially on this day, that strikes one as a deeply unfair standard. Now, I was in the camp that thought Huckabee's ad was pushing the limits a bit, but hardly anything to get agitated about - but whether you liked Huck's ad or not, Greenwald misses the most obvious point of all: McCain was relating a story from his own life experience, and one that relates to the central narrative of McCain's career. Now, it's true enough that the media has had a long love affair with McCain, but Greenwald, who sneers at the emotional content of the ad, simply fails to comprehend - or finds it convenient to dismiss - the inspirational drama of McCain's experiences as a POW. BASEBALL: You Gotta Have Grit
The grittiest ballplayers ever, proven statistically! Thanks to a couple of readers for passing this along, it's really a must-read.
December 24, 2007
WAR: There's Still A War On. But For Now, It's Going Pretty Well.
The good guys aren't the only ones who have problems with former supporters turning on them: One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims." Read More »
December 23, 2007
POP CULTURE: Ernie and Bert
Yes, another video in lieu of content.
December 20, 2007
POP CULTURE: Stairway, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Via Allahpundit. POLITICS: George Romney, Martin Luther King and Mitt Romney's Recovered Memory
In his much-heralded and well-received speech on "Faith in America," Mitt Romney claimed as an example of his parents' moral example to him that "I saw my father march with Martin Luther King." On Sunday's Meet The Press, Gov. Romney repeated the same claim to deflect questions about his church's exclusionary policies - for context, I'll reprint the full Q&A with Tim Russert: Read More »
December 19, 2007
POLITICS: Yes, Hillary Will Win The Nomination.
We've all heard the whispers, we've all seen the signs, we've all read the polls: Hillary Clinton is trailing Barack Obama in Iowa, her lead is in single digits in New Hampshire and within the margin of error in South Carolina. Youth and idealism will triumph. The Power of Oprah will turn the tide. Everybody's saying she could suddenly be vulnerable; lots of people are saying out loud that she could lose. All of our expectations could be unsettled; we could be facing Obama after all, an opponent who brings a wholly different set of strengths and vulnerabilitites to the table. Don't believe it. Read More » POLITICS: The Trouble With Mitt Romney (Part 5 of 5)
The fifth and last installment of a five-part series on why Republicans who are serious about winning the White House in 2008 are wasting our time on Mitt Romney. For background, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and, from February 2007, my explanation of why I'm with Rudy and my take on Mike Huckabee. V. The "M" Word A. Why It Shouldn't Matter At long last, after 12,086 words of turning the Eye of Sauron on Mitt Romney, we come to the delicate matter of Romney's religion. A few preliminaries are in order. First, I will admit that, perhaps naively after seeing how Ted Kennedy cynically used it as a wedge against Romney in 1994, I was initially dismissive of early concerns that Romney would face unusual electoral problems due to his Mormon faith. Second, I myself would vote with great enthusiasm for a Mormon president if he's otherwise a good candidate (i.e., Orrin Hatch - yes. Harry Reid - no.). As I have said before, I was behind Romney in 1994 and 2002. Sure, there are some things Mormons believe in, theologically speaking, that seem downright bizarre to me, but other people's religions often look like that from the outside. Short of a politician espousing a religious doctrine that leads to actively dangerous policies, I'm fine with having a President I disagree with on matters of faith - after all, 41 of the 42 men to have the job weren't of my faith (Catholic), and the one who was wasn't exactly a saint, nor is the nominal Catholic I'm supporting this time around. Moreover, there is a lot to be said for sticking religious bigotry in a box where we never take it into account. Especially when, as The Wall Street Journal put it: The Mormons seem the very embodiment of "family values," and you couldn't invent a religious culture that lived more consistently with Biblical messages. Broadly speaking, most Mormons have, and come from, big families; they're regular churchgoers and give to charity; they don't drink, smoke, gamble or engage in premarital sex. On the scale of American problems, the Mormons don't even register. And, one would add, Mormons are just about the most solidly Republican group in the nation. I would hate to see Mormons come away from the 2008 primary process feeling like their guy didn't get a fair shake because of his religion. In fact, some people have even advocated supporting Romney for that reason alone, while others contend that Romney would draw strength from the inevitable bile hurled by the left at his church. So it's with a fair amount of trepidation that I even get into this topic, given the very long list of legitimate reasons to oppose Romney's nomination that I dealt with in the first four installments. Read More » POP CULTURE: Hobbitt 2: Bilbo Meets Jar Jar
The good news: there will be a movie version of The Hobbit, and Peter Jackson will be involved. The bad news: I gather the "sequel" discussed here will be set between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Rings, which means it will have nothing to do with Tolkein, who wrote very little occurring in that period, and nothing resembling a fully fleshed out adventure. The Silmarillion and other parts of the Tolkein canon, including the LotR appendices, provide more than enough material for pre-Hobbit storytelling; I have no idea why Jackson would want to do that other than a positive desire to make his own stuff up. I mean, I want to see the fall of Gondolin, the flight of the Noldor from Valinor, the fight of Morgoth and Fingolfin. If he wants to do a story with a lot of creative liberties, he could do a full film treatment of the Last Alliance or some of the battles in the earlier Third Age. UPDATE: More than a few people are questioning whether the "sequel" is really going to be something other than doing the book in two parts. I hope it won't, and maybe I have heard incorrectly. When I get a chance, I'll look for more sources on this. BASKETBALL: The Most Hated Figure In The History of New York Sports?
I have to wonder at this point if Isiah Thomas is the most unpopular sports figure in New York history. At least while in New York, that is; Walter O'Malley is still hated in many quarters 50 years after taking the Dodgers from Brooklyn, but O'Malley was only disliked for leaving town. Leo Durocher was hated by Dodger fans when he managed the Giants and Giants fans when he managed the Dodgers, but that's also not the same. Consider the elements that went into Isiah's unpopularity: 1. As a player, he was a hated rival of the team. 2. He came to town with a seemingly endless stream of controversies in his past, many of them racially charged. 3. His prior record as a coach, GM and league executive was an unbroken string of failures, including the collapse of the league he ran. 4. He took over in NY as both the GM and, subsequently, the coach, thus eliminating any competition (other than the owner who hired him) for the fans' hatred. 5. He assembled a roster that was unsuccessful, seemingly designed not to play well together to match the talents of the players involved, expensive, not young, and not full of hustling, aggressive players. After this failed, he basically turned that roster over for another one just like it. 6. This method of roster construction left the team unable to change its direction for the foreseeable future due to the salary cap, while competing teams found ways to acquire major stars on the market at the same time. 7. On top of the failures in constructing, motivating and managing the team, he managed to get himself embroiled in a sensationally ugly offseason sex scandal. 8. He is apparently in no danger of ever being fired. It's reached the point where the Onion's satire seems plausible enough and Knicks fans are reduced to discussing assassinating the coach. I've certainly seen unpopular people in NY before. M. Donald Grant comes to mind after the Seaver trade, Steinbrenner's been hugely unpopular at times, and of course there's Joe Walton. Plenty of failed players have found ways to expand their portfolio of unpopularity, like Bobby Bonilla. Going back further, I don't believe there was ever this kind of hate directed at the likes of Ralph Branca or Fred Merkle or Joe Pisarcik or even Charles Smith. Unless someone has a compelling case for someone else, I'm going with Isiah. BLOG: Quick Links 12/19/07
*Studes says Jose Reyes' problem down the stretch last season was not hitting too few ground balls. *TIME Magazine looked into Vladimir Putin's heart, too, and named him their Man of the Year for discarding the remaining constitutional breaks on dictatorship in Russia. Unlike President Bush, TIME can't excuse this as diplomacy. *You'll shoot your eye out! Mike Huckabee may have a serious problem with granting too many clemencies to violent criminals, but Mitt Romney's refusal to grant any pardons or clemencies at all took him to the ridiculous length of refusing to expunge the conviction of a decorated Iraq War veteran who was convicted at age 13 of shooting a friend in the arm with a BB gun. *Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister, who was supposed to be the responsible one, has announced that she is pregnant. At least she's keeping the baby. *Businesses that should exist but don't. Posted by Baseball Crank at 9:19 AM
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December 18, 2007
POLITICS: Romney's Hidden Strengths
Unfortunately, given that he's my least favorite of the GOP's Big Five, Mitt Romney does seem to have the strongest path right now to the nomination; see Patrick Ruffini, Soren Dayton and John McIntyre. We'll know a lot more after New Hampshire on January 8. If Romney loses both Iowa and New Hampshire, he's toast. Right now, if I had to predict, I'd say he finishes a close second in Iowa and wins New Hampshire - his lead in the polls there will be awfully hard for McCain to close in a short time, especially if McCain finishes fifth or sixth in Iowa, as is likely. Ironically, McCain's best hope is for a decisive Hillary win in Iowa, since the next two primaries (NH and MI) are open to independent voters (that's how McCain won those two states in 2000) who might vote in the Democratic primary if it's still a race. Rudy, of course, is still banking on primaries after New Hampshire, so his campaign can't be fully evaluated until Michigan at the earliest. At this point, I'm really in the Anyone But Mitt camp. If we nominate him, we will lose. POP CULTURE: FrankTV
My wife and I have been watching some episodes of FrankTV lately on TBS. The show, if you're not familiar, is basically as low-budget a concept as you can get this side of a reality show: Frank Caliendo does sketches in which he plays nearly all the characters, and the sketches are broken up by Frank on a couch with a semi-randomly selected member of the studio audience. The writing on the show isn't particularly good, but it's worth tuning in for an episode or two if you haven't seen Caliendo's impressions, which are uncanny. Longer term, of course, the show is yet another point in the evolution of original TV programming towards budget-consciousness. Even some scripted shows these days seem to be under pressure to make do with smaller casts and fewer sets. It's an economically rational response to the decline of mass-market ratings.
December 17, 2007
BASEBALL: Taking It ... Where It Should Not Go
This goes rather too far even for dedicated Clemens-haters. In other news, somebody needs a hug. POLITICS/LAW: Mr. Justice Clinton
Prof. Douglas Kmiec suggests that Hillary Clinton, if elected, could have her husband follow the footsteps of former President Taft by appointing him to the Supreme Court. Taft was, in fact, a very good Chief Justice after being a failure as President, a job for which he never had the talent or desire. Prof. Kmiec gets right some of the obvious problems with this parallel: Clinton, unlike Taft, has no prior judicial experience and loves politics much more than the law; Clinton, unlike Taft, would presumably not be taking the Chief Justice job; and Taft, unlike Clinton, never had his law license suspended for perjury in a judicial proceeding. What Prof. Kmiec misses is the showstopper* - even beyond losing him as a campaigner - that would prevent Hillary Clinton, especially, from considering this: confirmation hearings. Nobody in her right mind who was at all sympathetic to Bill Clinton would ever want to see the man testify under oath again. And given the tendency of modern confirmation hearings to delve into any and all scandals in the nominee's past, hearings with Bill Clinton as the nominee would be both exhaustively lengthy and acrimonious and potentially uniquely damaging to Hillary personally. Assuming the Democrats hold control of the Senate they could potentially try to quash much questioning at the hearings, but even Republicans who hold principled objections to filibustering judges would be on firm ground blocking a floor vote until the Judiciary Committee was willing to hold a full hearing on the nominee. I suppose in theory, I could imagine Hillary pulling such a stunt as a deliberate provocation and/or for the express purpose of breaking the tradition of such hearings. But I think it far more likely that she would avoid at any cost the spectacle of William Jefferson Clinton being sworn in to testify anywhere ever again. Read More »
December 13, 2007
BASEBALL: I Hold In My Hand A Piece Of Paper Containing The Names...
I'm traveling on business today and so can't blog at length, but just to chime in quickly: we've all had a lot of amusement with the various unofficial and then official Which is a shame, just as the shoddy and tendentious Dowd Report was a shame even though it was ultimately proven to be correct in its core conclusion. Fans and the game's posterity do deserve an accounting, not least because an unfair cloud of suspicion has hung over many players who likely did nothing wrong. Maybe we will learn more - and I'll learn more when I have time to get a longer look at what has come out - but for now I'm not ready to hang anybody for their having been named on George Mitchell's list. * - To the surprise of nobody who remembers Senate investigations from Mitchell's days as Majority Leader
December 12, 2007
WAR: Science Fiction Meets Ugly Reality
At first glance, the commercially available jet pack seems wonderful and Jetsons-ish, but while I hate to be a spoilsport, I have to think that suicide bombers will just love it: 1. Strap pack with tank of jet feul on back. POLITICS: Huckabee Picks His Own Poison
As you have probably seen, a New York Times profile on Mike Huckabee includes comments about the Mormon faith that are likely to stir up passions over religious differences between Evangelical Christians and Mormons - two faithful parts of the GOP coalition - that are best left untouched. Huckabee's camp responded to the initial leak from the NYT by pleading for context, as well they should: In fact, the full context of the exchange makes it clear that Governor Huckabee was illustrating his unwillingness to answer questions about Mormonism and to avoid addressing theological questions during this campaign. "Governor Huckabee has said consistently that he believes this campaign should center on a discussion of the important issues confronting our nation," said Senior Advisor, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, "and not focus on questions of religious belief. He wants to assure persons of all faith traditions of his firm commitment to religious tolerance and freedom of worship. Governor Huckabee believes that one of the great strengths of our nation lies in its diversity of thought, opinion and faith." Now, the full article is online, so we can get the context that was missing from the teaser. Unfortunately, we can see from the context that Huck went and volunteered his thoughts on this point, even after admitting that he's not well-versed in LDS theology. Perhaps, as a man trained and experienced as a guider of souls, the former Baptist preacher couldn't resist the temptation to evangelize, just a little. But as a presidential candidate, he really should have known better than to go there. But he went there anyway: Huckabee is, indeed, a discreet fellow, but he has no trouble making his feelings known. He mentioned how much he respected his fellow candidates John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani. The name of his principal rival in Iowa, Mitt Romney, went unmentioned. Romney, a Mormon, had promised that he would be addressing the subject of his religion a few days later. I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. "I think it's a religion," he said. "I really don't know much about it." The problem is obvious: while Romney is clearly having some troubles with voters who are uncomfortable with the doctrines of his church, the last thing in the world Huckabee should be doing, morally or as a matter of political strategy, is inflaming sectarian divides within the GOP. He shouldn't have gone there...but he just couldn't stop himself. And he will have nobody else to blame for Romney using this slap to attack Huckabee for doing exactly what Romney pleaded with his countrymen not to do to him. PS - The Times profile is long, interesting and by no means entirely unsympathetic, and it makes good reading. Key graf: Huckabee has almost no money or organization. He has no national finance chairman, no speechwriters and a policy staff of three. His "national field director" is his 25-year-old daughter, Sarah. Huckabee does have a pollster, Dick Dresner, but so far there hasn't been enough cash to take any polls. "I think we can go until the beginning of the year," Dresner told me. "If we start by then to raise some money, we can begin to acquire the trappings of a campaign. Which, at the moment, we don't really have." BASEBALL: Goose, Dawson and the Hall of Fame Debate
I participated in a roundtable discussion of this year's Hall of Fame ballot over at Armchair GM, arguing in favor of Gossage and against Andre Dawson. David Pinto, Dayn Perry, Matt Sussman, and Rich Lederer also participated (no points for guessing who Lederer argues in favor of). Go check it out, along with the other fine submissions.
December 11, 2007
WAR: Estimating Iran
A few thoughts on last week's announcement of the National Intelligence Estimate, which estimates that Iran ceased its nuclear weapons program in 2003: 1. As Reagan used to say, trust, but verify. U.S. intelligence has historically been lousy regarding other nations' WMD programs, especially police states, going back as far as the USSR and Red China getting The Bomb. The errors haven't even all been in one direction: threats have been underestimated at least as often as overestimated. And if the post-9/11 bureaucratic imperative was to avoid charges of failing to 'connect the dots,' the post-Iraq War imperative is to avoid charges of overestimating WMD threats. So this may well be yet another case of fighting the last war. Taranto's column last Wednesday collected some good analyses, of which there are many more. At a minimum, the NIE should not be taken at face value as holy writ. There's a reason they call these things "estimates." 2. Iran is certainly not disarmed, as Alan Deshowitz explains: [The NIE] falls hook, line and sinker for a transparent bait and switch tactic employed not only by Iran, but by several other nuclear powers in the past. Read the whole thing. H/T (Dershowitz is an arch-liberal, but a Jewish arch-liberal of an age to remember when being pro-Israel was a liberal priority). 3. That said, if nothing else, the NIE's conclusions, if true, suggest that we at least have a little more time to deal with the threat. As Dershowitz suggests, this may be part of the Bush Administration's slipping into "legacy watch" mode, i.e., concluding that it can't really solve any more problems in the time remaining and instead trying to make them look solved so problems down the road get pinned on the next President (this is a tried and true formula across many policy areas; Bush didn't invent it and neither did Clinton). Even so, the preferred solution on the Right for handling Iran has been to pursue a multi-pronged strategy aimed at destabilizing the regime from within and keeping it sufficiently harrassed from without to limit its ability to make trouble; almost nobody actually wants war with Iran, for a variety of reasons. The urgency of dealing right now with the Iranian problem has largely been driven by two things: the nuclear threat, which once accomplished would take most of our other options off the table in addition to creating its own hazards, and the continuing Iranian meddling in Iraq (and to a lesser extent Lebanon). Those aren't the only problems the Iranians present (there's the longstanding issue of Iranian support for international terrorism, for which Iran has justly headed the list of state sponsors of terror for decades), but they're the ones that have demanded the most immediate response. If Iran is 'keeping its powder dry' on the nuclear front, along with improving conditions and a more aggressive U.S. posture in Iraq, that may give some real, and not just perceived, breathing room in dealing with the problem. 4. Of course, as Taranto and others have noted, if Iran really did downshift its nuclear program in 2003, even as a matter of sending it further under cover, it requires some fairly severe contortions to pretend that this was not a direct result of the Iraq War, combined with the general perception that Bush was a trigger-happy warmonger who had Iran next on his list. POLITICS: Huck Amok
A blistering editorial from National Review: On Iran, Huckabee is at his most troubling. He accuses the administration of "proceeding down only one track with Iran: armed confrontation." This is false, and the kind of rhetoric you'd expect from DailyKos bloggers, not a Republican presidential candidate. Huckabee thinks it has been a lack of diplomatic engagement that has soured our relations with Iran: "We haven't had diplomatic relations with Iran in almost 30 years, my whole adult life and a lot of good it's done. Putting this in human terms, all of us know that when we stop talking to a parent or a sibling or a friend, it's impossible to accomplish anything, impossible to resolve differences and move the relationship forward. The same is true for countries." Read the whole thing, and this as well by Clarice Feldman, and this by Ace. I'm warming to Huckabee's electability; he's a likeable guy and a great speaker. One could make the case that his ardently pro-life convictions matter, in the grand scheme of things, more than his un-conservative approach to economic issues and the size of government. But any president's Job #1 is being the Commander-in-Chief and "decider" in foreign affairs. And the more I see of Huckabee's views on foreign policy, the more he looks like a guy who has no business doing the most important part of the job. You can read reams and reams of discussion by people who like Huckabee without ever once running across foreign or national security policy (this is true to a lesser extent of Romney; both of them seem to have teleported here from the 2000 or 1996 primaries). And I wonder: is that large a segment of the primary electorate just disinterested in the fact that there's a war on? If so, that certainly is bad news for Rudy, who more than anyone is the candidate whose appeal is to 'Jack Bauer' voters who want the guy who will most relentlessly and remorselessly take on the bad guys. Rudy's whole appeal and whole career both before and after September 11 has been based on being the guy who takes it to the bad guys of every variety - from the Mafia to Marc Rich, from Al Qaeda to Arafat, from insider traders to squeegee men. If we are re-entering a period of national hibernation - and real good news from Iraq coupled with phony good news from Iran, Palestine and North Korea suggests we are - Rudy will not go anywhere (nor will McCain, the other candidate who relies heavily on his credibility on national security).
December 7, 2007
POLITICS: The Trouble With Mitt Romney (Part 4 of 5)
The fourth of a five-part series on why Republicans who are serious about winning the White House in 2008 are wasting our time on Mitt Romney. For background, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, my explanation of why I'm with Rudy, and my take on Mike Huckabee. IV. Campaigning Like A Democrat In this installment, I'd like to discuss yet another of the major problems I have with Romney: his style of campaigning, which in my view is too much like a Democrat-style campaign that often ends up insulting the intelligence of the voter - because it proceeds from the assumption that the voters are stupid. Now, let me preface this by saying that it would be foolish, especially after 2006, to assume that Democrats are somehow congenitally unable to win elections; there's obviously a long history of highly effective Democratic campaigns. And it would be silly to pretend that Republican campaign tactics are without sin. But I do contend that there is a distinctive style of campaign, with a number of identifiable traits, that has been adopted primarily by Democratic candidates and far fewer Republicans. It's a style that can be effective in state and local races, where there are limits to the attention span and resources of the voters and the media (consider Bob Shrum's record of success at the state level). But it has proven repeatedly to wilt under the hot glare of a national campaign that affords the media and the voters alike months of attention to a candidate's every move and utterance. Romney and his campaign team seem to illustrate too many of these distinctive traits, and that not only repels me but concerns me deeply about his viability in a national election. Read More »
December 6, 2007
BASEBALL/LAW: And He's Cheap, Too
Barry Bonds wants only the best legal representation - but only at a discount. Of course, this begs the question of who is familiar with these negotiations that is blabbing them to the press.
December 5, 2007
BASEBALL: Back to Square One
A few thoughts on the big Marlins-Tigers trade of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Mike Rabelo and minor league pitchers Eulogio De La Cruz, Dallas Trahern and Burke Badenhop: 1. Is This A Good Return For These Two? It's a good package - Maybin and Miller are high-upside prospects; Rabelo seems like a typical backup catcher type who will hit .250-.270 but do little else. It's tough to get a read on Miller, who has thrown 74.1 innings in the majors and 83 in the minors after a storied college career, but he could easily be an ace in the making, and Maybin is just 20 and has tremendous tools and a fine minor league record. Trahern has thrown over 500 minor league innings striking out less than 5 men per 9, so he's a non-prospect. Badenhop seems to have great control, but really I don't know much more about him or De La Cruz. Straight up for Cabrera, as huge as Cabrera's value is, this seems like a solid package of prospects. Still, it has to be a sign of how far Willis' market value has fallen that you couldn't get more by dealing them separately. 2. Is This A Good Deal For The Tigers? Absolutely. They're a contending team and they surrendered no proven major leaguers and got one of the three or four best hitters in baseball in return, who is young and durable and still reasonably priced. Cabrera presents challenges given his weight and poor glove, but if Renteria holds up at short, they won't have the same problems the Marlins had of Cabrera's weaknesses being exposed by combination with Hanley Ramirez. And Detroit can move him to DH in a year or two if they have to. As for Willis, you have to think there's at least a chance that a change of scenery and better defensive support could help him, but I'd bet on him spending some quality time with Dr. Andrews before long; his downward spiral seems more likely the result of injuries leaching his effectiveness than just a funk. 3. Does The Marlins' Business Model Make Any Sense? If you start with the assumption that you had to deal these guys because they were getting expensive and needed to get prospects in return, this trade makes some sense. But I question the underlying assumption that Florida can't bring in enough revenue to afford keeping a home-grown superstar like Cabrera - an assumption that also implies that three or four years from now, they will be dealing Maybin and Miller as well (in fact, if that's your business model, Maybin being 20 years old is a minus, since it means he'll be free agent ready before he hits his prime). Granted, the Marlins have managed to win two championships, but the frustration of these continual firesales probably costs them more in fan loyalty than it saves in salary. It's not like South Florida is a sparsely populated area or filled with people unfamiliar with baseball, after all; a commitment to building a consistently competitive team that hangs on to its players would stand a fair chance of being rewarded. With the death of the Expos, the Marlins have become the prime example of what Joe Sheehan has called anti-marketing, i.e., a franchise that is more interested in convincing the fans that they can't afford to compete - so as to panhandle for a new ballpark - than in doing the contrary to put fans in the seats.
December 3, 2007
POLITICS: Quick Links 12/3/07
*Charles Krauthammer and Jonah Goldberg on the complete and total vindication of President Bush and other opponents of public funding for embryonic stem cell research. Arno Herwerth, a 21-year veteran of the New York Police Department, said he requested the "GETOSAMA" plates earlier this month to send a political message. He said he was surprised to hear, after receiving the plates, that the DMV wanted them back. Oh, really - offensive to whom? *Of all the planted-question issues with the debates (see here, here and here), this video of Obama unwittingly giving away that he knew a questioner is perhaps the funniest. *Hillary throws stones from a glass house: Clinton closed out her Sunday with an appeal to voters in Bettendorf to caucus for her, but earlier in Cedar Rapids, she took Obama to task over his health care plan and disputed his claim he doesn't take lobbyist money. For those of us old enough to remember the Clintons and their surrogates arguing incessantly that character is wholly irrelevant to the presidency and that campaigning on such issues is a sign of being defeated on the issues - heck, go back and watch "The American President," their propaganda movie devoted to this theme, albeit while re-casting the facts in the most favorable possible light - this is hilarious, as is this: Clinton said she wanted to win the caucuses — and, next year, push the state into the Democratic column in the general election. *And, for a little humor, this, via Ace. We've all been on the other end of conversations like this, though perhaps rarely quite so graphically. WAR: Some Things Even Hugo Can't Fix
Venezuelan voters reject Hugo Chavez' effort to get an electoral mandate to be president-for-life and impose wholesale socialism on the nation (as opposed to the creeping socialism and dictatorship he's been working at for years). Liberty is good. People tend to resist when the question of surrendering it entirely is put to them quite that directly.
December 1, 2007
BASEBALL: Lastings Out The Door
The Mets' deal of Lastings Milledge for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church is a pretty classic example of a deal I didn't love but didn't hate at first glance, but quickly started hating the more I thought about it. Let's go through the lessons of this deal: 1. There's no such thing as a mistake you only pay for once. This deal is the wages of Omar letting Jesus Flores go in the Rule V draft; Flores now becomes the Nats' starting catcher, and had the Mets still had Flores, they would not have felt that the catching position was a need to be filled. 2. Short term, this deal may not hurt the Mets that much, as it brings in two everyday players of some use. Schneider is a great defensive catcher, probably the best in the game; he's probably good enough to be worth carrying his weak bat, which at 31 isn't going to get better. And Church is a solid player, a career .271/.462/.348 hitter (.279/.484/.355 on the road), albeit one who doesn't hit lefties real well; he's 29 and could have a bust-out year getting out of RFK. My guess is that Chuch will still be a better hitter thah Milledge in 2008. Then again, I'm not sure I want the inevitable Alou injury being the only thing standing between us and Church/Chavez/Gomez holding down the corners. 3. However, dealing Milledge, one of the system's crown jewels, for this pair almost certainly means no deal for a top starting pitcher, as Milledge was constantly mentioned in potential packages for the likes of Danny Haren or Johan Santana. 4. More to the point, long term, we could easily regret this big-time. At 23 next season with great athletecism and no real weakness other than immaturity and sporadic glovework, Milledge still has definite star potential. Add him to the list of young hitters abandoned by the Mets - sometimes for something of value, sometimes not - and while he is less accomplished than some, he's moreso than others and among the youngest:
I don't think you could really say Milledge has less upside at this stage than any of those guys at the time they left the Mets. 5. I assume this also means the Mets will non-tender Johnny Estrada. Estrada's not as much better as Schneider with the bat as he seems, given that Scneider gets on base more and has also suffered from RFK, but he's a pretty useful guy to just give away for nothing. 6. Along with the departure of Lo Duca, Glavine and Mota, this smacks of housecleaning, although actually we have not seen as many guys cleaned out as you might expect. |


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Five Day ForecastStep into DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tucson – Reid Park and feel instantly relaxed in the resort-style setting of the hotel with 14 acres of lush landscaped grounds, a serene citrus-lined courtyard and outdoor pool. Reach downtown Tucson in just ten minutes, and enjoy easy access to the local attractions including Tucson golf courses and the adjacent Reid Park, within a 3-mile radius with the complimentary shuttle service.
Celebrate your arrival with a warm chocolate chip cookie at welcome before settling in to a contemporary guest room, suite, or secluded casita. Each accommodation features a 42-inch TV, internet access, and work space. Choose a suite for stunning views of the Tucson Mountains or the courtyard, and select a casita for a private patio.
Enjoy the sunshine by the outdoor pool and whirlpool or enjoy a workout in the 24-hour fitness center. Challenge friends and colleagues to a game of tennis on one of three lighted tennis courts or treat yourself to a massage.
Sample Southwestern cuisine in the relaxed surroundings of Javelina Cantina or taste steaks seared to perfection at the Cactus Rose Steakhouse, open for breakfast lunch and dinner. Refresh in the lobby with a cold drink or coffee.
With 22,000 sq. ft. of versatile indoor/outdoor event space and a stunning location, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tucson – Reid Park serves as the ideal venue for a diverse range of events for 18 to 1,200 guests.
Our hotel has received the 2014 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award. This honor is awarded to establishments that achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site. Our staff takes great pride in consistently offering an exceptional experience to our guests.


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Product: iBUYPOWER Gamer Paladin E870 i7 Gaming System Date: October 14, 2009 Author: Bob Buskirk Edited By: Jack Wager Provided By: iBUYPOWER Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Discussion: Discuss in Forums
When it comes to gamers they want the newest and most powerful gaming systems out there. They really only have 2 choices, build a gaming PC themselves or get a custom gaming PC built for them. There are really only a few of reliable, well known custom builders out there and today we will be taking a look at a system from once such builder, iBUYPOWER. They have sent us their brand new Gamer Paladin E870 gaming system that sports an Intel Core i7 870 processor, 2x Radeon 4890's, 8GB of memory and liquid cooling. Let's take a look...
Intel Core i7 870 Processor 8GB Corsair Dominator DD3-1600 Memory 2x ATI Radeon 4890's ASUS P7P55D Deluxe Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ 240mm radiator 1000W Extreme Power Supply 128GB Kingston SSDNow V Series SSD 1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive LG Blu-Ray Re-Writer 12-in-1 internal flash card reader Internal USB Expansion System + Bluetooth module Cooler Master HAF 922 Mid Tower Gaming Case - Killer Bee Paint Job iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard iBUYPOWER internet mouse Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Price: $2675 Prices start at: $1739
The iBUYPOWER system came in a HUGE box! Opening the box up you will find a notice making sure you check to make sure everything is included in the box. They also provide numbers and e-mail addresses in case there are any problems. Opening the box up there is a large piece of foam.
Moving the foam out of the way we find a Cooler Master HAF 922 box with the system inside, an accessories bag, and a keyboard. The case itself is protected with the normal protection provided by the HAF 922 case box.
When you get the system out of the box you will notice 2 orange stickers pointing to the 2 thumbscrews on the back of the case. This is because iBUYPOWER wants you to open the system and remove the foam insert that is on the inside. This is one of the first systems I've seen with a foam insert. It helps protect everything inside and keeps things from moving around during shipping.
Computer Cases Prolimatech Megahalems Quiet PC Cooling
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Gill, Tim (b. 1953)
Gill established the Gill Foundation with a million dollars in 1994. He continued to increase its financial worth, especially after he sold his interest in Quark to Ebrahimi in 2000. By the end of 2004 the Gill Foundation's endowment stood at 220 million dollars. The Gill Foundation, named by the Association of Fundraising Professionals as the Foundation of the Year in 2004, has numerous educational, cultural, political, and other projects. More than 67 million dollars' worth of grants were awarded in the Foundation's first decade. It is now the leading funder of glbtq organizations and causes. Among its multifarious bequests, the Gill Foundation has established scholarships for gay and lesbian students at several colleges, donated to AIDS hospices and other programs, and given grants to institutions such as the Human Rights Campaign and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. A grant from the Gill Foundation was integral to the development of the extremely successful Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Its executive director, Kevin Jennings, praised Gill's work, saying, "The gay community in its current form could not exist without Tim. He created the infrastructure of national organizations like mine, and also in out-of-the-way places where gay community centers never existed before." In order to qualify for Gill Foundation grants, organizations must have or adopt nondiscrimination policies that include language regarding sexual orientation and must also publicly acknowledge the receipt of money from the Foundation's Gay and Lesbian Fund of Colorado. While the bulk of the Foundation's grants go to glbtq causes, some are awarded to other entities such as libraries, children's charities, and arts organizations. Gill feels that it is important to make "straight folks aware that the organizations they know and love also get gay support." The Gill Foundation's political programs include the Democracy Project ("a non-partisan effort to help organizations serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies raise more money, lobby more effectively, strengthen relationships with supporters, and build alliances with other organizations") and TurnOut ("a project . . . that seeks to educate friends and family of lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as to the basic inequalities faced by their loved ones on a daily basis and empower them to take action to voice their concern"). Gill and his partner, Scott Miller, reside in Aspen, Colorado but have also traveled extensively, often with outdoor sports on the agenda. Despite his unpromising start in high school, Gill has become quite an athlete and enjoys snowboarding, paragliding, canoeing, and mountain climbing.
Related Entries | |||||||||||||||||||
social sciences >> Overview: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) social sciences >> Overview: Student Organizations social sciences >> Hughes, Chris (b. 1983), and Sean Eldridge (b. 1986) social sciences >> Human Rights Campaign (HRC) arts >> In the Life social sciences >> Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) social sciences >> The Point Foundation social sciences >> Polis, Jared social sciences >> Romer v. Evans social sciences >> Vaid, Urvashi |
Bibliography | ||
Hopkins, Jim. "QuarkXPress Grew out of Shy Guy's Love for Solitude; Now He's a Huge Philanthropist." USA Today (August 15, 2001): B7. McCaffrey, Raymond. "Stepping Out--Bit by Bit; Quark's Tim Gill Builds a New Life While Helping Others." The Gazette (Colorado Springs) (May 31, 1998): A1. O'Connor, Colleen. "Who Is the Real Tim Gill? He Made a Fortune at Quark. Now He Has Turned His Focus to Politics, Philanthropy and Mad-dog Adventures." Denver Post (December 12, 2004): L1. www.gillfoundation.org. |
Citation Information | ||||
Author: | Rapp, Linda | |||
Entry Title: | Gill, Tim | |||
General Editor: | Claude J. Summers | |||
Publication Name: | glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture |
Publication Date: | 2005 | |||
Date Last Updated | May 9, 2005 | |||
Web Address | www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/gill_t.html | |||
Publisher | glbtq, Inc. 1130 West Adams Chicago, IL 60607 |
Today's Date | ||||
Encyclopedia Copyright: | © 2002-2006, glbtq, Inc. | |||
Entry Copyright | © 2005, glbtq, inc. |
This Entry Copyright © 2005, glbtq, inc. www.glbtq.com
is produced by glbtq, Inc., 1130 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL
60607 glbtq™ and its logo are trademarks of glbtq, Inc. |


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